Textile fabric



April 8, 1952' A. JOHNSON ETAL TEXTILE FABRIC Filed Dec. 22, 1947 INVENTORS ARTHUR J0HNsoN 8. JOHN BAMBER SPEAKMAN Patented Apr. 8, 1952 2,592,153 TEXTILE FABRIC Arthur Johnson and John Bamber Speakman,

Leeds, England, assignors to Alginate Industries Limited, Maidenhead, England, a British company Application December 22, 1947, Serial No. 793,220 In Great Britain April 11, 1941 This invention comprises improvements in or relating to textile fabrics.

The invention is in part a continuation of our United States patent application Serial No. 450,012, filed July 7, 1942, now abandoned.

In the weaving of textile fabrics it is known to use yarns twisted with cotton threads, which latter are intended to remain in the fabric only temporarily, and after weaving to remove the cotton by treatment with sulphuric acid, drying and baking, whereby the cotton is carbonised and reduced to a powder, which is easily dusted out. Cotton and wool yarns are twisted together in such a sense as to leave the wool yarn in the twofold thread either twistless or deficient in twist so that when the cotton is removed in carbonising a soft and lustrous fabric is obtained. The wool fibres are, however, liable to be damaged to some extent by the use of acid, so that the avoidance of the use of acid is a matter of importance.

The present invention relates to the production of fabrics from yarns of wool of such fineness as is not normally capable of being woven. In particular the invention comprises a woven wool fabric comprising yarn of such fineness that it. is incapable by itself of withstanding the strains imposed in weaving. The invention is not, however, limited to woven fabrics but includes knitted and lace fabrics.

The invention further comprises a process for the manufacture of a woven or knitted or lace fabric characterised by producing composite yarn by twisting together soluble alginic fibres and wool textile fibres of such fineness as is too weak to be handled by itself in making the fabric, em-

J ploying such composite yarn, with or without other yarn, in making the fabric and thereafter dissolving the said soluble alginic fibers or filaments out of the fabric so as to set the fine wool fibres free.

Many alginic fibres, such for example as fibres of calcium alginate, are soluble in an aqueous solution of soap or sodium carbonate or can be converted to alginic acid by treating it with an acid of such strength as will not injure wool fibres, in which converted state they are soluble in, say, sodium carbonate, and it is this readily 4 Claims. (Cl. 28-76) The lower limits of fineness with which yarns of wool fibres can be spun, or woven, depend upon the method of spinning. What are called "woollen-spun yarns, used in the manufacture of tweeds and like materials are spun by drawing the yarn out of a mass of fibres while simultaneously twisting it, usually on a mule frame, on what is known as the draft versus twist principle, and the finest yarns producible on a commercial scale by this method have a length of about 15,360 yards per pound weight (s Yorkshire skeins, British count). Such yarns are too weak to be woven in a power loom; the finest woollen-spun yarns for weaving have a length of about 12,800 yards per pound (50s Yorkshire skeins).

On the other hand worsted yarns, which are spun on a roller drafting mechanism, can be commercially spun to a fineness which gives a length of as much as 56,000 yards per pound (s worsted count, British count); the finest worsted yarns which can be woven commerciallyare 31,360 yards per pound (56s worsted count). The fineness is expressed in this specification in terms of yards per pound to avoid any possible confusion which might arise from the various possible ways of reckoning the count of Wool yarns.

According to one feature of this invention,

woollen-spun yarn finer than 12,800 yards per pound or worsted-spun yarn finer than 31,360 yards per pound is twisted with solublealginate yarn to produce a composite yarn capable of being woven on a power loom notwithstanding the fact that the woollen-spun yarn by itself could not be so woven and after weaving the alginate yarn is removed by a weak alkaline scour to leave a pure wool fabric of woollen-spun yarn, or worsted-spun yarn, as the case may be, finer than could otherwise be produced.

The wool fibres in the composite yarn may, moreover, be substantially untwisted, or less twisted than would be necessary to withstand weaving stresses whereby a softer or more lustrous or stronger fabric is produced. In explanation of this it may be pointed out that'certain fabrics are distinguished by their soft and full-handling properties. Although these tactile qualities may often be enhanced by suitable finishing processes, they are largely determined by the structure of the yarns from which the fabrics are made. Ordinary yarns must, of necessity, be twisted sufficiently to withstand the strains imposed in weaving, but softness decreases as the twist increases. Thus certain yarns when twisted sufficiently to be suitable for weaving may contain so much twist as to prevent the desired degree of softness being realised in the finished fabric. In the case where, according to the present invention, a yarn of wool fibres is twisted to form a composite thread with soluble alginic yarn the alkaline wash removes the alginic fibres and if the composite yarn has been twisted in such a manner that in twisting the original twist in the yarn of wool is practically or wholly untwisted the wool fibres which remain after washing will be twistless, or at all events less twisted than would be necessary for weaving or otherwise making into fabric by themselves and the resulting fabric will be softer.

Instead of making finished yarns of wool fibres and of alginic yarn and then twisting them together, it is within the scope of the present invention to make a mixture of unspun staple fibre of Wool and of soluble alginic fibre and to spin this mixture into a mixed yarn, which is thereafter made into fabric, whether woven or lace or knitted fabric, and after the fabric has been so produced to dissolve the soluble alginate con-v stituent. of the yarn by means of a soap or weak alkaline scour so as to leave the wool fibres alone in the fabric. Working in this Way it is possible to, produce still finerfabrics because the wool content in the composite yarn can be reduced to a. point, at which there is less Wool there than could be pun alon The preferred form in which the soluble alginic threads are employed in accordance with this invention is in the form of calcium alginate which is soluble in soap or soda solutions. When calcium alginate is used the attack by the soap leads to, the production of an insoluble metal soap, for example calcium oleate. In cases where the presence of this insoluble metal soap would be objectionable, say in dyeing, other alkaline scours canbe substituted, for example, fatty alcohol sulphates; with soda or a mixture of soap, sodaand one of the, known polymers of alkali phosphates. which prevent precipitation of calcium soaps. Again the alginic yarn may be converted to alginic acid by a mild acid treatment followed by removal in sodium carbonate solution and this will ensure that no calcium soaps remain in. the f abrie after-treatment;

Two f-ormsofyarns which can be employed, according to the present invention, are illustrated diagrammatically in the accompanying drawing in which:

Figure 1 is a diagram to. an enlarged scale of one form. of yarn, and

Figure 2 is a diagram of a second form.

Figure 1 shows a wool yarn H. which. has been twisted with an alginate filament or yarn l2. In the case shown in. Figure 1 the twist remains in the. wool yarn! I.

Figure 2 shows a case where the twistin ofthe alginate l4 and wool 13 has been carried outin theopposite direction to the original twist in the wool yarn I3, with the result that the woollen yarn I3. is substantially untwisted',

The following are examples of- Woollen fabricsproduced in accordance with thepresent invention:

Example-I A worsted yarnv is taken which is spun to a fineness of 56,000 yards, per pound. This is o e of the finest, worsted-spun yarns which can be commercially produced and it is too fine to be woven into a fabric by itself on a power loom. This, yarn is twisted together with a calcium, alginate yarn having a fineness between 75 and denier. The twisting is carried out similarly to Figure 1 in such a way as to leave the worsted yarn in a twisted state in the composite yarn. It may, in fact, have a greater twist than when originally spun. A fabric is woven from this yarn and is a composite fabric of wool and alginate of a tough and somewhat hard character, constituting an intermediate fabric in the process of manufacture.

Thereafter the fabric is washed in an alkaline scour consisting of a weak solution of sodium carbonate mixed with soap solution and a small proportion of calgon which is a polymer of an alkali phosphate and prevents precipitation of calcium soaps. This removes the calcium alginate yarn and leaves a firm wool fabric of a weight lighter than has hitherto been commercially producible, namely 1%; ounces per square yard.

Example II Wool yarn similar to that referred to in Example I is taken and twisted with calcium alginate yarn similar to that referred to in Example I, but the direction of twisting is as shown in Figure 2 opposite to the direction of twist of the worsted yarn so that as a result the worsted yarn is almost untwisted in the composite yarn. After Weaving and washing out the alginateas described in Example I, a light-weight wool fabric is left of similar weight to. that referred to in Example I but having a much softer handle."

Example III A woollen-spun yarn is taken having a. length of about 15,000 yards per pound and twisted with calcium alginate yarn to produce a composite yarn wherein the-woollen-spun yarn has a greater degree of twist than it had when originally spun. This is woven into fabric, constituting an intermediate product, and thereafter the alginate constituent is washed out as described in Example I leaving a crisp-handling fabric having a weight of 3 /2 ounces per square yard which is lighter than could be commercially. produced previous to this invention with a woollen-spun. yarn.

Example IV This is carried out exactly as described for Example. III except that the alginate fibres are twisted with the woollen-spun yarn in such a directionas to remove the greater part of the twist of the woollen-spun yarn, with the result that the final fabric has a. particularly soft and full handle.

We claim:

1'. A fabric substantially: consisting of" singles worsted-spun yarn having'a fineness greater-than 31,360 yards per pound twisted with calcium alginate yarn having a fineness between '15 and 125 denier, saidv calcium alginate yarn being soluble in an alkaline bath without injuryto the worsted yarn.

2. A woven fabric substantially"consisting of singles worsted-spun yarnhaving a fineness of at least about 56,000 yards perpoundtwisted with calcium alginate yarnhaving afineness-between 75 and 125 denier, said calcium alginate yarn being soluble in an alkaline bath without injury to the worsted yarn;

3. A process of making a fabric,- which comprises twisting calcium alginate yarnhaving a fineness of between 75- and 125 denier with worsted-spun yarn having a fineness greater than 31,360 yards per pound to form a composite-yarn,

5 6 making a, fabric from the composite yarn and Number Name Date thereafter washing the fabric in an alkaline bath 2,011,916 Simonds Aug. 20, 1935 to dissolve the calcium alginate yarn. 2,186,692 Boyer et a1. Jan. 9, 1940 4. A process as claimed in claim 3, wherein the 2,332,738 Meade Oct. 26, 1943 fabric is a woven fabric. 5 2,435,543 Johnson Feb. 3, 1948 ARTHUR JOHNSON.

OTHER REFERENCES Textiles, Woolman 8: McGowan, The Mac- REFERENCES CITED millan 00., 3rd edition, 1946, copyright 1943, page The following references are of record in the 10 2- me of this patent; The Texigllehlndustnes, vol III, Murphy,

' h P Lo i 1 24,

UNITED STATES PA TS gazes am u 1s 1ng Co ndon 9 page Number Name Date "American Wool Handbook," 1st edition, pub- 288,015 Chaux Nov. 6, 1883 15 lished by American Wool Handbook 00., Bergen 362,318 -Scheppers May 3, 1887 et al., New York, 1938, pages 434 and 443.

JOHN BAMBER SPEAKMAN. 

3. A PROCESS OF MAKING A FABRIC, WHICH COMPRISES TWISTING CALCIUM ALGINATE YARN HAVING A FINENESS OF BETWEEN 75 AND 125 DENIER WITH WORSTED-SPUN YARN HAVING A FINENESS GREATER THAN 31,360 YARDS PER POUND TO FORM A COMPOSITE YARN, MAKING A FABRIC FROM THE COMPOSITE YARN AND THEREAFTER WASHING THE FABRIC IN AN ALKALINE BATH TO DISSOLVE THE CALCIUM ALGINATE YARN. 